Monday, June 18, 2007

A Good Weekend



Thanks to a fair bit of callback at work (you can't have more fun than standing in one spot for four hours wrapped in synthetic rubber/lead apron trying to find that one tiny artery filling some one's abdomen with blood, then spending the next two hours putting the images on film so the doc can look at them the next day), I was granted a three-day weekend. I spent most of Friday assembling plumbing for the new sink I installed last weekend. Fat men and small spaces don't mix. On the plus side, the bathroom project from hell is almost done, except for a few small details.

Saturday was spent with The Wife. We decided to take out the cycles for a few hours, stopping first at the annual Greek festival at the local Greek Orthodox church. This is the first time I've been to it, but it won't be the last. Gyros are few and far between here, and the ones they were making were excellent. The wife forced me to finish her Greek chicken, and we ended lunch with a baklava sundae.



After eating, there was a display of dancing. Two thoughts on that: the women performing seemed to really have it down. And, you have to have a hell of a lot of self-confidence to put on this and go out and shake it when your past, say thirty.





Shortly after that, a quick trip into the church to check out the bake sale. Baklava as far as the eye could see, which is damn near paradise to me. The Greek ladies really know how to cook. You can fit a lot of calories into a bike's saddlebags with very little effort.

Next stop, the local Fleet Farm for a new pair of chaps for The Wife. After last year's two hour ride in the rain in South Dakota, she now appreciates that a rain suit can help keep out the water, but it'll still feel cold slamming up against your shins at 60 MPH. Then over to one of the local bike shops to purchase a full face helmet that allows the entire front to lift in addition to the face shield. I started using one of these when I got fed up with taking my glasses off and on every time I removed/put on the helmet. She didn't think much of it until riding in the rain (surprise) with her half-helmet and snap-on visor. Tolerable in town, torture at 60 MPH, with water blowing up beneath the shield.

Last, a slow ride around one of the local lakes. Sunny day with a nice breeze coming off the water, and a couple of stops for some cool drinks.

Father's Day Sunday, I had the company of my son and mother, along with gifts of a six gallon shop-vac, season two of the Venture Bros., and a home-made peach pie.

That is a good weekend.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're obviously a total amateur when it comes to plumbing projects. A real pro like me doesn't start until 6 o'clock on Sunday, when the hardware stores are all closed and you end up toilet-less until Monday morning.

MauserMedic said...

I learned that lesson when we lost use of the toilet on the first floor for a couple of weeks when I discovered the leak I'd noticed around it rotted the floorboards enough to pull chunks out with my fingers. I DO NOT like going down the stairs at two in the morning half asleep with a full bladder. Plus, it interferes with my beer drinking if I have to go more than 20 feet to take a leak.

BobG said...

I never miss the Greek Festival in Salt Lake every year; I grew up around a lot of Greek and Italian people, so I have a fondness for their food.

Firehand said...

I've got a Symax helmet with the flip-up visor; only full-face type I've ever found my glasses will fit comfortably under. I love it.